Podcast: Spring Words in Russian


Posted on March 26th, 2013

It’s a little tradition now for me to share the words related to the coming new season in Russian with you. Last summer I wrote an article teaching summer words in Russian, then in autumn – an article teaching the autumn words in Russian, and in winter – winter words in Russian.

Well, spring is here, and it’s time to learn some spring vocabulary in Russian.  Let’s start with the basics.

Весенние месяцы. Spring Months.

Here are the names of the spring months:
Весенние месяцы [vee-SYE-nee-ye MYE-sya-tsi] spring months
Март [MART] march
Апрель [ap-RYEL’] april
Май [MAY] may
If you would like to learn the names of the rest of the months, you can watch this video lesson – Months of the Year in Russian. Video Lesson.

Весна Идёт! Spring is coming!

Весна (n.) [vees-NA] spring
A few examples of how word весна can be used in a sentence:

Весна идёт [vees-NA ee-DYOT] spring is coming
Идти (v.)[eed-TEE] verb идти has several meanings, and I strongly recommend you to look it up in the dictionary to better understand how this word can be used in Russian speech. For now, I’ll only share you with you a couple of it’s main meanings:
1. go
2. come
When talking about a new season approaching, we use verb идти to say that the new seasons is coming up.
And of course, you already know that you can switch words places in sentences, and the meaning of the sentence will stay the same:
Весна идёт. Идёт весна.

Here is another example:
Наступила весна [nas-too-PEE-la vees-NA] spring has come
Наступить [nas-too-PEET’] is a perfective aspect of verb наступать [nas-too-PAT’]. Again, this word has a few meanings, but in this case it means “come”.
I know we haven’t talked about the perfective aspect of Russian verbs yet, and we will in our future lessons. For now, you need to remember that perfective aspect of the verb states the action that has already happened, for example:
Compare:
Наступает весна. (Spring is coming. )
And
Наступила весна. (Spring has come.)

And lastly:
Весна пришла [vees-NA preesh-LA] spring has come
Прийти [preey-TEE] is a perfective aspect of verb приходить [pree-ha-DEET’] that means come. Прийти means has come. As you see verb прийти is a synonym of word наступить.

A Few More Spring Words in Russian

Finally, after the long and cold winter the nature is waking up and getting ready for summer.

Таять [TA-yat’] thaw, melt
Тает снег [TA-yet SNYEH] snow melts
Капель [ka-PYEL’] it looks like there it’s impossible to describe the meaning of this word in one word in English. What it means is “dripping water from the thaw”. Here is an example:
В марте начинается капель.
In March water starts dripping from the thaw.

Оттепель [O-tee-pyel’] thaw
Hаступила оттепель.
A thaw has set in.

Бежать [bee-ZHAT’] run
Ручей [roo-CHEY] stream
Журчать [zhoor-CHAT’] purl, babble
A couple of examples with the words above:
Бегут ручьи.
Streams run.

Журчат ручьи.
Streams babble.

Весенние Цветы. Spring Flowers.

Цветок [tsvee-TOK] flower
Цветы [tsvee-TI] flowers
Подснежник [pad-SNYEZH-neek] snowdrop
Тюльпан [tyool’-PAN] tulip
Нарцисс [nar-TSIS] Narcissus
Выглядывать [vig-LYA-di-vat’] peep out, emerge
Трава [tra-VA] grass
Цветение [tsvee-TYE-nee-ye] blossom
Расцветать [ras-tsvee-TAT’] blossom
Вырастать [vi-ras-TAT’] grow
Воздух [VOZ-dooh] air
Тёплый [TYOP-liy] warm
Теплеть [teep-LYET’] warm up, get warm
Зеленеть [zye-lye-NYET’] become greener

A couple of examples with the words above:
Зеленеет трава, расцветают цветы.
The grass is getting greener, the flowers blossom.

Воздух становится теплее.
The air becomes warmer.

Распускаться [ras-poos-KAT’-sya] open (about plants), blossom out
Появляться [pa-yav-LYAT’-sya] appear
Почка [POCH-ka] this word can mean a “bud” and a “kidney” in Russian, in this case, it’s a “bud”. :)
На деревьях распускаются почки.

Весенняя Одежда. Spring Clothes.

These are some of clothes you might be wearing in spring in Russia:

Плащ [PLASH’] rain coat
Кожаная куртка [KO-zha-na-ya KOORT-ka] leather coat
Шарфик [SHAR-feek] scarf (diminutive from шарф)
Туфли [TOOF-lee] shoes
Кофта [KOF-ta] cardigan, knitted jacket
Пиджак [peed-ZHAK] jacket, coat
Жакет [zha-KYET] jacket
Блейзер [BLEY-zyer] blazer

Let’s Practice

Here is a little text for you in Russian to practice vocabulary above.

I suggest that you listen to the text, read it aloud, and then try to translate it from Russian into English. It’s great if you already know the majority of these words. I strongly encourage you to translate the text without looking at my English translation below. If you don’t know a word, try to guess it’s meaning from the context, if you can’t then feel free to look it up in a dictionary. Have fun!

Весна пришла! Обожаю весну. Наступила оттепель. Тает снег, бегут ручьи, воздух тёплый и приятный. На деревьях появляются почки. Из-под талого снега выглядывает зелёная трава, и появляются первые подснежники. Дни становятся длиннее, а ночи – короче. Накину плащ и шарфик, одену весенние туфли и пойду вечером на прогулку.

Translation:

Spring has come! I love spring. A thaw has set in. The snow is melting, the streams are running, the air is warm and pleasant. The buds are opening on the trees. Green grass is peeping out from the melting snow, and the first snowdrops are appearing. The days are becoming longer and the nights shorter. I’ll throw on a raincoat and a little scarf, put my spring shoes on and will go for an evening walk.

This is all for today, make sure to subscribe to Russian4real newsletter to not miss a single Russian lesson.

Have fun learning Russian! :)

Viktoria.

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